[Arktwo] The water is rising
Bruce Beach
language@webpal.org
Mon, 7 Apr 2008 00:00:11 -0400
News Item:
US B-1 Bomber Crash in Qatar
When systems fail
they often demonstrate -
* 'extreme volatility'
* 'erratic oscillations
* 'systemic increasingly unstable gyrations'
* 'more pronounced oscillations of increasing degree and irregularity'
to list some descriptions
which I have found.
I consider these apt descriptions
of the present US stock / financial markets.
Indeed of the weather, environment -
and the world as a whole.
When the plane,
vehicle,
ski lift,
financial market,
world,
starts to wobble, vibrate and shake
it is time to call and say -
"Houston we have problem."
Bush has called upon
Paulson
(US Secretary of the Treasury)
and Bernanke
(Chairman of the US Federal Reserve)
the man with a plan.
Maybe not a good plan.
Maybe not a bad plan.
Just as far as anything
that will work -
a non-plan.
Still, it is a major shift -
in the structure of the
US financial system.
---------
News item:
The Federal Reserve has thrown open its lending window to the 20 primary
dealers of U.S. government debt, including foreign firms, allowing them for
the first time to get access to taxpayer funds.
-----------
Here is an alphabetical list of
twenty of the current
wards of the state.
1. Banc of America Securities
2. Barclays Capital
3. Bear Stearns
4. BNP Paribas Securities
5. Cantor Fitzgerald
6. Citigroup Global Markets
7. Countrywide Securities
8. Credit Suisse Securities
9. Daiwa Securities America
10. Deutsche Bank Securities
11. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Securities
12. Goldman Sachs
13. Greenwich Capital Markets
14. HSBC Securities
15. J.P. Morgan Securities
16. Lehman Brothers
17. Merrill Lynch Government Securities
18. Mizuho Securities USA
19. Morgan Stanley
20. UBS Securities
Each one of the above
is worth billions -
and their executives are paid
individually hundreds of millions.
Yet, these are the 'welfare clients'
for which the struggling lower-income tax payers
are taxed to support their continued lifestyle.
I truly hope that you will
read the following
to see how some of America's welfare clients live.
http://tinyurl.com/2ffoep
-----------
To understand the financial
world / crisis / situation
you need to understand two things.
a. the Dollar
b. the banks
The Dow, Gold, Oil, etc. -
are interesting but completely controlled.
Until the system completely collapses -
their numbers mean very little.
The dollar has already collapsed.
Last week it was down near 70 cents.
This is about half of what it was
in its prime.
When we say the dollar
is near 70 cents -
the following is what we mean.
When the US (and the world)
went off the gold standard -
the US dollar became
the world's reserve currency
against which other currencies were measured.
There were 22 currencies in the world
against which it was averaged.
Initially the dollar was set at
1.00 dollar against the other currencies weighted average,
but as the US economy strengthened
the dollar strengthened
and became worth about $1.60
Since then the dollar has weakened.
Seventeen of the currencies
disappeared into the Euro -
and today the dollar is measured against the
Euro (EUR)
Yen (JPY)
Cable (GBP) (UK)
Loonie (CAD)
Kronas (SEK)
Francs (CHF)
Today the dollar is weakening
in its exchange rate
against these currencies
and its relative value to them
is said today to be on average
about 72 cents
or less than half of what it was
at one time.
The dollar is of course traded
against still other currencies -
and actions in some economies
such as in China, Russia,
and South America
can often have a very large effect
upon it.
But anyway -
the dollar is sick and dying.
When we say the dollar is worth
only half as much -
one way that you can see that
is in the price you pay for things.
One of the things
that the dollar buys
is stocks on the Dow.
If the Dow is 14,000
and the dollar is worth half as much
then the Dow is like really only 7,000
as compared to when the dollar
was worth twice as much.
Whichever -
because the Dow
is not about real things anyway.
It is about paper -
and speculation about paper.
Even the dollar is paper.
Or more really -
just numbers -
created by the banks.
Yet -
the dollar and banks
control the financial world.
The dollar is sick and dying.
The banks are dead.
They just haven't been buried yet.
Take the Canadian banks for example.
They have been bust
since last August.
That is when they defaulted
on their ABCP.
(Asset Backed Commercial Paper)
Here is the short story.
Farmers around us sold their property -
(I told you about it at the time -
and that I thought it was to China).
Farmers wanted a safe place
to put the big checks they got.
The banks said to them -
buy short-term (30-60 day) bank bonds.
Asset Backed Commercial Paper -
we now call them derivatives.
Farmers (and about 1800 small Canadian Investors -
think of them as people putting in
two or three hundred thousand each)
now can't get their money back.
Usually this wouldn't be a problem
for the banks.
Just stiff the small investor.
And that is what they tried to do.
The big investors -
who hold about 80 percent
of the billions of dollars
of bonds / derivatives / ABCP
all got together
to work out a deal with the banks.
But the world changes.
A new phenomenon
the big banks and the big bucks
hadn't counted on.
For the first time -
the small investors were able
to find each other
because of a thing called Facebook!
Together the small investors
form a mighty force.
They have gotten a lawyer -
and are going after the banks.
Ooops!
The vote on the 'solution'
takes place April 25th.
The proposed solution is
that 'maybe' they will get their money
in ten years -
without interest.
AND they aren't permitted
to sue the banks -
if they accept the deal.
I don't think so.
These people are on average
50-70 years old -
and for many -
that is their life savings.
Anyway -
you can read about it for yourself -
here:
http://tinyurl.com/489ddh
and here:
http://tinyurl.com/4fybdk
I searched on Google News and found
lots of similar articles.
http://tinyurl.com/374p9f
-----------
Meanwhile -
down in the US.
http://tinyurl.com/36v54e
I classify all this as
simply whistling in the dark.
-----------
I am attaching here articles -
that I highly recommend that you read.
These are not high level financial articles -
but are rather grass roots articles
that are on the pulse of events.
Individually -
they are almost curiosities -
but collectively they say something.
-----------
Read the following
as to what the above actually means
to individuals.
http://tinyurl.com/ysvwu5
-----------
The world financial crisis
isn't just about houses
in the US -
no matter where it started.
Much of the world is in danger
of starving.
I could go into the reasons why -
but here is another url -
for one particular situation.
http://tinyurl.com/3a5ckd
There are similar -
but different stories
from Mexico,
Egypt
and many parts of the world.
All these chickens
will come home to roost eventually.
-----------
Wheat, rice, corn prices
are rising dramatically
throughout the world.
http://tinyurl.com/23e2wa
-----------
And of all places -
it is even beginning to affect
the US.
http://tinyurl.com/324rrx
-----------
Still,
no matter how tough things seem
for Americans
you should really think
how they are in the rest of the world.
Can you really put yourself
in their shoes?
http://tinyurl.com/2x6gmh
-----------
It is a world spiral downward -
and its effects will be seen
more and more around you.
http://tinyurl.com/3359wb
-----------
It is not just financial affairs
that are rocking the world's equilibrium.
The election in Taiwan -
is causing reverberations with China.
China is also dealing with
the Olympic demonstrations.
The Iran situation is intensifying.
The Iraq situation is intensifying.
The Israeli situation is intensifying.
And today Bush met with Putin.
Can we say -
that situation is intensifying?
News Item:
The Vice President promised the US Navy's and Air Force presence in the
Persian Gulf would be expanded in the coming weeks. The American Fifth
Fleet's command base in Bahrain would be augmented with additional aircraft
carriers and warships.
Five days later, on Thursday, March 27, it was announced that the USS
Abraham Lincoln had departed ...(after) a port visit to San Diego to load
its air wings, extra equipment and 1,500 more crew members before embarking
on its journey to the Persian Gulf.
-----------
Sunday April 6th -
was the start of largest civil defense drill
in Israel.
Warning sirens will be tested on April 8.
-----------
News Item:
Moqtada Sadr called for a million-strong march in the shrine city of Najef
against US "occupation" on April 9, the fifth anniversary of the fall of
Baghdad.
-----------
It could be an interesting week - yet.
None of us know -
what will happen to us
from one minute to the next.
Received an email last night -
that my granddaughter was sitting
in the bathtub.
It was written at 3:00 am -
by her mother sitting beside her.
I was up and saying prayers.
Thought it was going to be okay -
that the tornado was passing -
but then just a few minutes ago -
got this message.
"I spoke too soon... we lost pretty much everything from a flood. From the
time the water started rising in the street to when it was starting to come
in our house, was about 30 minutes. After it started coming in, it took
about 10 minutes to be knee deep. Fire Dpt. had to evacuate us through a
window because of the water was so deep and every time we opened the doors
the water came rushing in. Water was coming from everywhere (doors, windows,
base boards). After they got us out, current was so fast that we had a hard
time staying a float... We are all safe and have our lives.
-----------
May future events
work out as well
for all of you.
Peace and love,
Bruce
DawnSayer@webpal.org